Lowmead this weekend 20th Feb

[atj14]

Heading to lowmead for a couple of nights
I believe you can fossick for gemstones here
Is there anyone going to be around this weekend that could show us what to do and where to go.
We are complete newbies
Thanks
Andrew

 

[silver]

Hey Andrew,... maybe do a search on here for Lowmead or lowmead and see what info you can pull up,.. should get all you need on there,.. I camped up there, but stayed quiet and kept a low profile and all safety for the land (fire etc) and made sure there was nothing left behind except for footprints when we left,... but then ive talked to the farmers missus before and they know our car from other times when we said gday and gave them a friendly wave or two over time. Should be directions on here somewhere if no one is going up at all.
Take a seive and a shovel and a bucket at least,... and use all your safety nouse, as the sides can cave in if you push it too far and work in an unsafe manner, ... have a look at the other holes and look for orange gravel.

 

[atj14]

Thanks Silver will drag the van out there in the morning.
Can you camp at the dig site?

 

[silver]

We did andrew,... but we didn't ask and risked being asked to leave,.. but were on the good side of lucky,... we camped about 75 metres down the track in off the road, on the right hand side in the flat area,... if you see the farmer drive through down on the creek track down the bottom you could give him a wave and say hello to him on his way back out and ask if it's ok by him if you stay overnight and just reasure him of how you will be careful and leave the place clean and tidy. That's what I'da done if I'd seen him stop to talk, but I think he was pretty busy the day we were up there, back and forth all day chasing the cows I'd recon.

 

[atj14]

Well we are back back in range of the internet
had an interesting day at Lowmead, took your advice Silver and found an old hole with a bit of orange gravel
we found some amythist and other stuff see picture attached
We used a post hole shovel, Gardening spoon and a vegetable collander, what a day
any comments on what we found would be appreciated
They all came out of one hole

Andrew

 

[silver]

Definately digging in the right type spot there Andrew got some colour and a few terminations,... set em out nice for the photo,... bit of hard yakka hey, but fun when you find any bits at all, especially when formed up and/or coloured too. Nice to have a bowl for show and tell in the home display cabinet,... people that see them just can't believe that you've dug them out of the ground. And the more experience with it all the more chance of using the experience elsewhere to come up with the goods of some other kind too.

 

[atj14]

Thanks Silver, got more interest now but will have to get a better sieve, might make one up using some snake mesh 6mm square holes. Do you think that size would be ok to use at the gem fields as well?
We are setting off in three weeks on a trip to Cape York via Lightning Ridge and Tibbuburra then northwards, hoping to fossick our way around.

 

[silver]

Ive got about 3mm mesh and I find that is too small and makes for harder work,.. I find myself wishing id made the throw sieve with bigger mesh,... but I think with sapphires and such the smaller stones are more abundant with some being cutters of small stones, so they use that smaller sieve too then,... I guess watch some utubes on it all and see who's using what and coming up with the goods , might give you a better idea of what you need than my advice.
the less you have to carry, with still being able to get the job done, is the ideal, really,... I still find myself carting gear that I'm not using,... so still getting it down pat myself yet.